Back when I took my first sex ed class — near the end of fifth grade, if I’m not mistaken, though they clearly jumped the gun by several years when it came to me needing any knowledge of the subject — we were encouraged to anonymously submit questions to the teacher that might be too embarrassing to ask in public. Considering that Beavis and Butthead was the hottest new thing on television, it was probably no surprise then that one of my classmates submitted the query “How many wet dreams does it take to fill up a swimming pool?”

Years later, we finally have an answer: however many NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had dreaming of a Western Conference Finals matchup between Phoenix and Los Angeles back in the mid ’90s.

The Coyotes and Kings will be squaring off for the Clarence Campbell Bowl, the type of thing Bettman surely hoped to be seeing plenty of when he led the league’s great migration south in the Clinton years. One way or the other, some Sun Belt city will be represented in the Stanley Cup Finals.

If that’s not enough to raise Bettman’s sheets at night, the very real possibility of a New York vs. Los Angeles showdown for the Cup could be in the works. The Rangers are on the brink of eliminating Washington after Monday night’s win, and it increasingly looks as if they’ll be meeting the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals.

If things work out that way, it’s double hog-heaven for the commish. Not only would the New York media play up the Devils-Rangers series, but it would be a reprise of what was arguably the most entertaining series in NHL history — the ’94 conference final between the Rangers and Devils that went to 7 games, three of which were decided in double overtime. Incredibly, New Jersey’s goalie from that series, Martin Brodeur, is still in the net.

Even if the Coyotes make the final instead of the Kings, there will be plenty reason for Bettman to be excited. Since the team is owned by the NHL, he is in the rare position of being able to award himself the Stanley Cup if they win it all. Now there’s a dream that was too wild to fill his swimming pool.